Directed by H.C. Potter, Mr. Lucky is a 1943 romantic comedy drama starring screen icon Cary Grant as Joe Adams, a swindler and smooth-talking gambler out to launch a casino after taking money from a charitable organization. Not the most noble role for Grant, at least at first!
Told in flashback, the story is about a successful gambler, Joe Adams (Cary Grant, To Catch a Thief, Hot Saturday) is planning a scheme to take money from a War Relief charity program and use it for a gambling casino. He poses under the name of dying man Joe Bascopulos to conceal his real identity, so he won’t have to do any service during World War II. He uses his charms to on the charity’s head Dorothy Bryant (Laraine Day, Tarzan finds a Son!, The Locket), who slowly falls for Joe Adams. Joe continues to swindle people for money and continues his false interest in the program, including Dorothy’s grandfather (Henry Stephenson, Tarzan and the Amazons, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes). Her grandfather is highly suspicious of Joe! Joe, also falling for Dorothy, starts feeling guilty about his scheme and his conscious bothers him enough to possibly stop taking money from the War Relief charity.
Mr. Lucky is another fine classic movie with Cary Grant handing in another wonderful performance as Joe Adams, with that charming smile and suave personality that only Cary can deliver! There is plenty of chemistry between him and Laraine Day. There is a great unforgettable knitting scene during the film that must been seen to believe. It’s Cary at his best with his strong screen presence and plenty of other memorabile moments in this movie. He goes from a heatless swindler to someone who grows a conscience right before our very eyes!
The other cast members include Charles Bickford(The Big Country, Whirlpool) as Hard Swede, who proceeds with the flashback in the feature, Gladys Cooper (Now, Voyager, Separate Tables) as Captain Veronica Steadman, famous character actor Paul Stewart(The Weapon, Loan Shark, Kiss Me Deadly) as Zepp, a partner in Joe Adams’ racket, and Alan Carney(Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor) as Joe’s right-hand man “Crunk”.
The Warner Archive collection debuts Mr. Lucky on Blu-ray. The feature was sourced from a new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative. Warner’s Blu-ray of Mr. Lucky looks about as good as it gets, just like their other releases. There are a few parts of the movie that take place in either foggy or darker environments that look slightly muddy, maybe a slight amount of black crush but otherwise in general the blacks and shadow details look fine, whites are nice and cheerful with close-ups of the characters are detailed to go with strong texturing of indoor and outdoor scenery. George Barnes cinematography shines quite well in 4K!
Regarding the audio quality of their Blu-ray, the English DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix has a nice clear, clean, trouble-free presentation. The dialogue is easy to follow, and the musical scores by Roy Well blend in just fine, with everything sounding perfectly balanced. No age-old issues such as hissing, popping were detected. English subtitles are available for this offering.
There are some supplements for this Blu-ray release, starting with the Lux Radio Theater Broadcast. This is an audio supplement, which originally aired on October 18th, 1943. It is basically an abbreviated version of Mr. Lucky with Cary Grant and Laraine Day reprising their roles.
A feature called Screen Director’s Playhouse, is another audio extra. This 30-minute show was originally broadcast on January 20th,1950 and features Cary Grant and director H.C. Potter.
A theatrical trailer is the other supplement.
This is another great release from Warner Archive, with Mr. Lucky now boasting superior and audio qualify to go with some extras make this a terrific release. Yes, you can retire the DVD! This is another highly recommended release!
Mr. Lucky
Director – H.C. Potter
Cast- Cary Grant, Laraine Day
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Warner Archive/ Warner Home Video
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –12/27/24